Family members’ needs and experiences of driving disruption due to health conditions or ageing

Abstract

Purpose: Family members often assume the caregiving role and provide practical assistance and emotional support when an individual is experiencing driving disruption due to health conditions or ageing. The purpose of this study was to understand the experiences, viewpoints and needs of family members with regards to an individual undergoing driving disruption across various population groups. Method: A scoping review was conducted through searching across six databases and hand searching articles published from 1985 to 2013. Findings from the articles specific to the aims of the review were extracted and summarised into common topics. Results: Twenty-seven articles were included; dementia or cognitive impairment (16 articles), older adults (8 articles) and brain injury (3 articles). The most common topic raised was related to decisions and consequences for the individual. Other concerns were related to family members’ occupational role changes, emotional and communication issues and support needs of family members and their recommendations for services. Conclusions: This review revealed the impact of driving disruption on family members but research is limited, especially in the area of brain injury. The majority of articles did not set out to explore family members’ experiences and needs and this highlights an area that requires critical attention.

Implications for Rehabilitation

• Health professionals should be aware of the potential impact of driving disruption on family members.

• Family members frequently raise concerns regarding the decisions and consequences for their relative, but also bring up personal concerns such as changes to their own occupational roles and the communication and emotional issues they face during driving disruption.

• Unique challenges arise between family members of individuals of different health conditions, thus highlighting the importance of family caregiving research in various population groups.

• Caregiver
• driving
• family
• older adults

Declaration of interest

The authors report no declarations of interest. The first author is a recipient of the University of Queensland Research Scholarship (UQRS). There are no additional funding sources.